8 December 2015

Internal report clears Lausanne lab. of breaking WADA rules

An internal audit by the Vaudois University hospital (CHUV) has cleared the Lausanne anti-doping laboratory (LAD) of breaking any World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) rules by destroying samples sent to it from the Moscow anti-doping laboratory. However, although it confirmed that the LAD had acted within WADA rules and guidelines regarding the destruction of 54 samples, it did not explore the central question of whether the LAD had received specific instructions not to destroy any of the 67 samples before they arrived from Moscow.

On 9 November, the WADA Independent Commission found that the LAD had destroyed 67 samples that WADA had asked it to retain. ‘The Lausanne laboratory acted contrary to specific instructions received from WADA to retain the 67 samples transferred to it from the Moscow laboratory’, it read. ‘The IC is not satisfied with the explanations given for the destruction of the samples transferred from the Moscow laboratory.’

The Independent Commission report found that it was standard procedure for the LAD to inform WADA that analysed samples were scheduled for destruction, which it proceeded with unless it received instructions from WADA to the contrary. The internal audit found that the LAD had informed WADA that the samples were scheduled for destruction, but also accused WADA of making a ‘manifest error’, as 13 samples had, in fact, been retained by the LAD and, therefore, all 67 samples had not actually been destroyed.

However, the Independent Commission’s argument is that WADA had told the LAD not to destroy any of the 67 samples when they were originally sent from Moscow. ‘With respect to the 67 samples, WADA had specifically requested that the Lausanne laboratory retain these particular samples and had not authorised their destruction’, read its report. ‘Saugy [Martial Saugy, laboratory Director] accepted responsibility for this matter and has affected corrective measures within the laboratory processes to protect against premature destruction of samples in the future’.

The internal audit found that of the 67 samples sent to it from Moscow, the LAD had conducted tests on 55 samples it judged fit for analysis, resulting in one adverse analytical finding (AAF). It said that this sample had been preserved in accordance with WADA standards for a minimum of three months.

The audit found that the LAD had met the ‘strict standards’ of WADA in 2012 regarding the destruction of the 54 negative samples. ‘The Swiss laboratory asked for instructions on the samples analysed, and clarified that the 54 negative samples had been discarded’, read a CHUV statement issued today. ‘By return email, WADA issued instructions on the remaining 12 samples without giving any information on the part devoted to the destruction of 54 negative samples. The LAD revealed abnormalities in two of the 12 remaining samples, and provided all the information required by WADA.’ The full internal audit is available, in French, by clicking here.

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